


The Cracked Gem

by NotALemon



Series: The Crystal Grumps [6]
Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Backstory, Cracked Gems, Crystal Grumps, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Possible Brian/Dan, Possible Shmoop, Pudding, Self-Hatred
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-08-09 02:06:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7782682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotALemon/pseuds/NotALemon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brian got cracked during a battle. No big deal. Just a little pudding craving and talking.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Cracked Gem

Brian stabbed at the other Gem and got him squarely in the chest. He bubbled the gem and sent it away.

“Brian!” Dan screamed, launching himself at his Ninja companion. Brian whipped around, but he wasn’t quick enough. The Gem scraped her ax against his gem when he poofed her. “Oh my God!”

The Gem hit the ground and didn’t get bubbled by either Ninja. Dan instead ran for Brian.

He shook his head at the silence in his head. He couldn’t hear Brian’s thoughts. “Holy shit. Are you okay, man?” Dan finally got to him and got a good look at his gem. Cracked. Oh shit. Oh shit!

“Does it look like I’m okay?” Brian asked. Verbally.

Dan gasped. “You’re _speaking_ to me. Oh fuck.”

Brian nodded. “Yeah. I want pudding.”

“Okay. I’ll heal you and you’ll be back to normal. Right?”

“Pudding first. Healing later.” Brian stood, leaning heavily on Dan. He grunted in effort but didn’t wrap an arm around Dan’s shoulders.

“But-”

Brian glared at Dan and spit the words like they were poison at him. “I’m starving. Pudding first.”

“Fine. You know what? Have your pudding. I’ll carry you.” Dan sighed in surrender and wrapped a lanky arm around Brian. “Comfy?”

Brian stiffened, nodding curtly.

“What’s going on here?” Arin asked, walking over to the two. His shirt was a little worse for the wear, but he had fared better than Brian had.

“Shut up, Arin. We’re getting pudding.”

All the color drained from Arin’s face, leaving it a slightly lighter than normal pink. “Holy fuck. Did Brian just-”

“Yes. Did we get them all or not?” Brian, though he normally hated showing any weakness in front of the others, finally threw his arm from around Dan’s neck.

“Um. Yeah. We bubbled them. What the fuck happened?” 

Dan pointed to Brian’s gem. “His gem’s cracked.”

“And he’s not concerned?”

“Dammit, Arin. I just want pudding.” Brian crossed his arms and huffed at both of them. “Is that too much to ask?”

“We’re getting your pudding.” Dan patted Brian’s head. Brian’s eyes said murder, but his gem said that there was no weapon.

“We better be.”

Suzy came up to them, looking slightly concerned. “Hey guys! How’d it go?”

“Hey Suzy.” Arin waved numbly.

She paused in confusion when she saw Dan and Brian. “What’s wrong with Brian? Why’s Dan carrying him?”

“He, uh, cracked.”

“What?! That’s terrible! Why haven’t you healed him?” Suzy squeaked.

“I want pudding first.” Brian grit his teeth in frustration. 

Suzy jumped at the sound of his voice. “He can _talk_?!”

“Yeah.” Dan shrugged a little. “Ninjas aren’t supposed to speak. Verbally. We _can_. We’re not _supposed_ to.”

“Can he only talk when his gem’s cracked?” Suzy cocked her head to the side.

Dan shrugged. “I don’t know.” He took a second to glare at Brian. “He talks all the time. You guys just can’t hear him.”

“What’s wrong?” Ross asked, casually jumping over Barry. Barry rolled his eyes and shook his head. Kevin was slinking behind them both.

“Something is.” Barry said.

Brian turned to Ross and pointed at him. “You like pudding, right Ross?”

“What the hell?!” Ross gaped at him.

“That’s what I think when I hear you talk.”

“Aw damn!” Arin swished his hands.

Kevin stared at him along with Ross. “Is he always like that?”

“Pretty much.” Dan shrugged and started to walk. “We’re gonna get pudding.”

The other Gems stared at them but followed. They murmured among themselves. Dan would sometimes catch a snatch of conversation. A couple “this is weird”s and even one “they’re banging, aren’t they?”.

Dan half-carried Brian back to the temple. Brian leaned his head against Dan’s shoulder for most of the time. He wasn’t smiling, but Dan would say he seemed pretty happy. It was like back on Homeworld before it all went to Hell. 

He wasn’t sure when he got there, but they were at the temple sooner than he thought. Dan opened the door and sheparded Brian in, laying him down on the couch. Brian laid there, waiting for someone (namely Dan) to hand him pudding.

The other Gems left them alone after Brian had his pudding, per his request. “We’d like some space,” he’d said, finishing off his second (and last) pudding cup. They’d nodded and wandered away. Arin muttered something sarcastic about “alone time”.

Dan offered to help him up. “You ready, man?” 

“Not really.” Brian stood up by himself and limped to their room. His footsteps were loud. Not as loud as normal limping, but louder than his usual silence. “Just give me a second.”

Dan nodded and opened the door, because Brian sure couldn’t. He tried to help Brian into the room, but Brian pushed him away and hobbled in by himself. “Whenever you’re ready, I’m ready.”

Brian sat down and stared at his feet. “I know I shouldn’t say this.”

“Uh-oh.”

“I didn’t want to say this in front of the others.” Brian took in a deep, quiet breath. “I kind of like speaking.”

“But- Why?” Dan sat next to Brian and pulled his knees up to his chest. He tried to wrap his arm around Brian’s shoulders, but the other Gem pushed away his arm.

Brian was hellbent on staring at the wall in front of him instead of at Dan. It was on “Dan’s side” of the room, though they both knew how well _that_ worked. Anyways, it was a mixture of different shades of blues and reds pulsing like a lava lamp. More interesting than some of the other walls in the temple. He sometimes got lost in the patterns.

“Remember when we could talk freely?”

Dan nodded, full of nostalgia. “That was eons ago. Why are we-”

“I don’t know. I- Do you ever want to go back?” Brian allowed Dan to slip an arm around his shoulders but still sat straight-backed. 

“To before everything happened? Yeah.” Dan squeezed Brian’s shoulder as reassuringly as he could. 

“I hate being a ninja.”

Dan lengthened his cape once again and wrapped it around them. “I know that feeling.”

“But we wouldn’t exist without them.”

“I know. That’s something I’d be fine with. Not existing.” Dan’s face fell and he dropped his gaze to the floor. “It’s dark, isn’t it?”

“Dan.” Brian leaned his head against _his_ wall. “I’m ready to be healed.”

“You sure?” Dan didn’t want to remove his arm. It felt so natural- just the two of them talking, Dan’s arm around Brian’s shoulder- that he just wanted to stay like that forever.

Brian nodded. “It’s time.”

Dan reluctantly healed him, ignoring the sinking feeling in his chest. Sure, he loved seeing Brian well, but he just wanted more time to actually talk to Brian. He nodded when he was done and stood to leave. A hand wrapped around his wrist.

 _“Where are you going?”_ Brian asked, dragging Dan back to where he was sitting earlier. 

“Nowhere.” Dan sat back down next to Brian.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying to write something big, so updates might be a little off. Apologizes to all.


End file.
